DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim status
The examiner acknowledged the amendment made to the claims on 07/01/2026.
Claims 1-12 and 14-17 are pending in the application. Claims 1, 6 and 8 are currently amended. Claim 13 is newly cancelled. Claims 15-17 are newly presented. Rest of claims are previously presented. Claims 1-12 and 14-17 are hereby examined on the merits.
Examiner Note
Any objections and/or rejections that are made in the previous actions and are not repeated below, are hereby withdrawn.
Claim Objections
Claims 16-17 are objected to because of the following informalities: “that has been for no more than” should read “that has been aged for no more than”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-5 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Aida US Patent No. 8,071,531 B2 (hereinafter referred to as Aida).
Regarding claims 1-5 and 7, Aida teaches a flavor and fragrance composition comprising a cooling sensation agent and a warming and/or sensation agent, wherein the warming and/or sensation agent is a vanillyl ether compound (e.g., vanillyl ethyl ether, vanillyl propyl ether or vanillyl butyl ether), and wherein the flavor and fragrance composition is added to a food or a beverage such as fruit spirits so as to endow the food or the beverage with a cooling sensation or warming and/or pungent sensation (Abstract; column 3, line 12-15, column 4, line 30-38; column 9, line 48-55). A fruit spirit is known to be distilled, contain at least 20% ABV ethanol as a result of distillation, and contain congeners (e.g., taste or aroma compounds) as a result of fermentation of the fruit components.
Further, Aida teaches that each component of the flavor and fragrance composition may be added to the food or beverage as a liquid by dissolving it in an alcohol; or may be added as a solubilized or dispersed liquid by solubilizing or emulsifying the components (column 1, line 3-15), thus reading on the limitation that the vanillyl ether compound is dissolved in the distilled spirits.
Further, where Aida arrives at the method steps of claim 1, the purpose of modifying the flavor of the distilled spirits is met by the prior art.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aida US Patent No. 8,071,531 B2 (hereinafter referred to as Aida) as applied to claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 6, Aida teaches that the adding 0.0001-20% the flavor and fragrance composition to the beverage (column 4, line 50-54). Aida further teaches that for delivering a cooling sensation, the ratio of warming and/or pungent sensation agent to the cooling sensation agent is usually 0.001-0.95 or preferably 0.01-0.5, and for delivering a warming and/or pungent sensation, the ratio of the cooling sensation agent to the warming/pungent sensation agent is usually 0.001-0.95 or preferably 0.01-0.5 (column 7, line 56-column 8, line 12). As such, the concentration of the vanillyl ether compound by weight of the distilled spirit as disclosed by Aida overlaps with the range as recited in claim 6 (calculation: assuming the amount of the flavor and fragrance composition is 0.001% or 10 ppm by weight of the spirit and the ratio of the vanillyl ether to the cooling sensation agent is 0.5, then the amount of vanillyl ether by weight of the spirit is ~3.3 ppm). In the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art” a prima facie case of obviousness exists. (MPEP 2144.05 I).
Claims 8-12 and 14-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aida US Patent No. 8,071,531 B2 (hereinafter referred to as Aida) as applied to claim 1 above.
Regarding claims 8-12 and 14-17, Aida as recited above teaches a distilled spirit (e.g., fruit spirits) in connection with claims 1-7, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. Further, a skilled artisan would have been motivated to include the flavor and fragrance composition comprising a vanillyl ether in the fruit spirits any time (e.g., unaged or newly aged) based on desirability for the purpose of delivering a cooling sensation or warming and/or pungent sensation to the food, rending the limitations of claims 15-17 obvious. Absent a showing of new results, it does not appear that the timing of adding the flavor and fragrance composition matters.
Response to Arguments
Applicants’ arguments on 07/01/2026 with respect to pending claims have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Applicants’ amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHANGQING LI whose telephone number is (571)272-2334. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00-5:00.
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/CHANGQING LI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1791
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